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Spanish state prosecutor appealing Puerto verdict

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — The Spanish state prosecutor's office appealed the verdict of the Operation Puerto blood-doping case on Friday, including the decision to destroy hundreds of blood bags that anti-doping

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BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — The Spanish state prosecutor's office appealed the verdict of the Operation Puerto blood-doping case on Friday, including the decision to destroy hundreds of blood bags that anti-doping agencies had asked to be handed over for analysis.

Eduardo Esteban, the Madrid province's chief prosecutor, told The Associated Press that his office had appealed various parts of the verdict.

"Perhaps the most important part, we have appealed the decision to destroy the blood bags," Esteban said. "We believe that the blood (bags) should be handed over to the administration."

The Italian Olympic Committee has also appealed judge Julia Santamaria's decision to destroy the case's evidence on the grounds that privacy laws precluded her from handing them over for further testing.

Besides asking for the blood bags not to be destroyed, the state prosecutor's appeal seeks for the suspended sentence for doctor Eufemiano Fuentes to be increased from one year to two because his activities were "continuous," and therefore more serious.

It also argues that former Kelme cycling team official Ignacio Labarta's sentence of four months should be increased to two years.

"We believe that Labarta should be considered not as an accomplice, but rather as the author of the crime, and should receive the same punishment as Fuentes," Esteban said.

The appeal also seeks to overturn the not-guilty verdict for Manuel Saiz, the former ONCE and Liberty Seguros team sports director. It is not seeking to overturn the not-guilty verdict for Fuentes' sister, Yolanda.

Agencies have until June to appeal the verdict, which for many sports authorities, athletes, and government officials brought an unsatisfactory end to a drawn-out seven-year wait since police raids first uncovered the blood-doping ring.

The International Cycling Union has said it will also appeal, while the World Anti-Doping Agency and Spain's anti-doping watchdog have both said they were considering appeals.

More than 50 cyclists were implicated in the Puerto investigation, with Italian rider Ivan Basso and Alejandro Valverde of Spain among those banned for involvement in the case.

Fuentes testified in the trial he also had clients from other sports, including football, tennis, boxing and athletics, but they have not been identified.